Pancakes: South Beach Style

As a South Beacher, I'm always looking for ways to keep my meals new and exciting so I don't get bored or too monotonous. I also think variety breeds better weight loss results because it jump starts your body instead of letting your body get too used to something - similarly if you always did the same workout every day without variation, your body gets too comfortable and you don't yield the same results after a while.

One of the things I've had to mentally deal with has been the fact that I have had to up my whole grain carbohydrate intake since I've upped my exercise intensity pretty dramatically. My body needs it's fuel. I've accepted this, though it's been difficult because I know this is one of the reasons why my weight loss has slowed.

I was talking to my good friend Vicki a couple of months ago about my need to increase my breakfast carbs on Saturday mornings for my long runs. She suggested I make a recipe for oatmeal pancakes that her mom has been making since she used to do South Beach back when the diet first came out on the market. She said it was a good balance of whole grain carbs and protein.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup whole grain rolled oats

1/4 cup reduced fat cottage cheese

4 egg whites (or I used 1/3 cup of all egg white Egg Beaters)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Here's how you make them:

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. Spray cooking spray in a skillet. Heat your skillet on medium. Pour the batter into your skillet. Cook until the pancake is lightly browned on one side, then flip and do the same on the other side.

Use sugar free syrup and voila!

Nutritional Information (with Egg Beaters):

Calories 295

Fat 4g

Carbs 34g

Fiber 4g

Sugar 4g

Protein 31g

You can usually find a sugar free syrup for about 20 calories for 1/4 cup.

This is a good, hearty breakfast that sticks with you for several hours. It also freezes quite well. I usually make 4 at a time - one to eat and 3 to freeze for future use.